


Sleepless in LazyTown (Again)

by orphan_account



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Fluff, Insomnia, M/M, this fic brought to you by irl insomnia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8872714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Robbie's quest for sleep continues. This time, Sportacus offers some help.





	

Robbie started up from his armchair with a huff. He grabbed his clock and held it close to his face, staring at the ticking hands with bleary eyes. 1:30 AM. He set it down again, picked up his tiny blanket, and threw it to the floor.

"No, no, that won't do at all."

He went around his lair, collecting every soft object and bit of fabric, and shoved it all into his inventing machine. Out of it popped some thick, heavy blankets, with which he made a nest in his chair. He burrowed into them, covering himself completely so that no light or sound could get in, and turned the lamp off.

2:00 AM. Still no sleep.

Grumbling, he dragged his bundle of blankets up to the surface and dumped them in the middle of Lazytown's park. It was cold outside but, he thought, he would be safe inside of these. Shivering all over, he fell into a fitful state between waking and dreaming.

* * *

Spartacus sat up, blinking in the darkness. The crystal on his chest was beeping and flashing. He jumped out of bed, grabbed his telescope, and opened the door of the airship 

It was hard to see at this time of night, so his eye was automatically drawn to the park with its lamps. On one of the benches he saw a twisted pile of blankets.

"Robbie," he said, and called for the ladder.

The man under the blankets was shivering all over but had the blankets pulled stubbornly tight around him. Sportacus touched his shoulder and he started into full wakefulness, peering out of the blankets with sudden fear.

"It's freezing out here. You could get hypothermia."

Robbie shook off his hand and rolled over.

"Go away. I'm trying to sleep."

"It didn't look like you were sleeping to me."

"That's why I said _trying_. Now be quiet."

He took out the two strips of fabric that he seemed to always carry with him, put them in his ears, and covered his head again.

"You came out here because you couldn't sleep in your house, right?"

Robbie twitched.

"I know that you can hear me. You need to buy some real earplugs, Robbie."

"Yes, I'm here because I couldn't sleep in my house. _Obviously_."

"Maybe you should try sleeping in my house, then."

"No!"

"Robbie, I can't just let you turn into a popsicle out here."

Sportacus rubbed his arms. He had a high tolerance for cold weather—it was a rare day when he wore long sleeves—but even he was starting to feel cold.

"Sorry about this."

Sportacus lifted him in one arm, grabbed the ladder and planted his feet on the bottom rung, and called for the ship to lift them up.

"Put me down, put me―" Robbie peeked out of his cocoon and went completely still. The ground was rushing away from them. "Never mind."

Sportacus set him down on his bed, then went to a closet and returned with a sleeping bag. He put it on the floor and got inside.

"Do you need anything before you go to sleep?"

"No. I guess not."

"Good. Sweet dreams, Robbie."

"Whatever."

Robbie frowned down at him, wondering if he was really just going to sleep on the floor, but before he could comment Sportacus had rolled over and fallen asleep. He could just make out the rise and fall of his chest in the moonlight.

Sleep-deprived as he was, it did occur to him that this was his chance. He could pilot the airship out of town, sabotage the engine, and leave Sportacus there to deal with it. That would keep him away for a while, at least.

Except for the gentle hum of the engine, all was blissfully, perfectly quiet. He settled into the pillows and pulled up the blanket, hugging it to his chest as he watched Sportacus. For a few minutes he would close his eyes and think. Sleep probably wasn't going to come, anyway.

* * *

When Robbie woke up it was light outside, and Sportacus was doing pushups. Robbie looked around the airship, dumbfounded, sure that he must be dreaming. Sportacus continued, oblivious, working through several different types. When he started the clap pushups Robbie rolled his eyes and sat up, stretching broadly. Sportacus noticed the movement and jumped up, smiling.

"Good morning Robbie! Sleep well?"

Robbie grumbled vaguely in assent. Sportacus flipped over to a table and flipped back, holding an apple. He offered it to Robbie.

"Breakfast?"

"I'm not eating any sportscandy."

"You'd sleep better if you didn't eat so much processed sugar."

Robbie crossed his arms and turned his head. Sportacus frowned, shrugged when Robbie remained unresponsive, and bit into the apple. Then, to Robbie's annoyance, he sat on the end of the bed and continued eating it.

"You twitch in your sleep," he said between bites.

"I do?"

He wasn't surprised, given the odd positions he had woken up in.

"And you mumble, too."

Although Sportacus had a neutral expression, Robbie felt rising apprehension. Even though he found his obsession with exercise and heath annoying, he couldn't help but notice that Sportacus was a well-built man, and he had had more than a few passing thoughts about this.

"What did I say?"

Sportacus held him in suspense as he finished the apple and tossed it into a bin across the ship. His aim was perfect, of course.

"It was all gibberish."

Robbie let out a breath, and swore that he saw a glimmer of amusement in Sportacus's eyes. Was it possible that he was _teasing_ him? He thought back to last night, wondering if there had been anything flirtatious in the way Sportacus had acted. No, there hadn't been. He scowled at him. There it was, that small smile again. It was probably just general amusement, not flirting. He looked away and felt the mattress shift as Sportacus got up.

"Are you ready to go? You can stay here and rest some more if you want to."

Robbie got up too,  feeling a bit ridiculous as he took his armful of blankets with him.

"No, I want to leave," he hesitated. "That was the best night of sleep I've gotten in a long time, actually. I should be good for a while."

Sportacus beamed and Robbie thought that he was _proud_ of him for sleeping. What a silly thing to feel proud of someone for. He had to admit that the smile made him feel good, though. It was hard not to feel proud of yourself when Sportacus was proud of you. It was contagious.

"I'm glad," he said, and called for the door to open.

He brought Robbie down just outside the entrance of his lair.

"If you ever having trouble sleeping again just call me, okay?"

Robbie was taken aback.

"Well, I―I don't have your number."

"Oh! Excuse me. Ship, give me something to write with."

A pen and notebook fell from the sky and Robbie flinched as Sportacus snapped his arm out to catch them. He scrawled his number on a piece of paper, gave it to Robbie, and then handed him the notebook and pen as well.

"What?"

"I want your number, too. If that's okay."

"Sure, why not."

Robbie wrote it down and handed the notebook back.

"Can I call you sometimes?" Sportacus asked. "Even if it's not about sleeping?"

"Well, you can _try_ to call me. I don't know if I'll answer."

Sportacus laughed.

"Okay Robbie. See you later."

"I'm sure I will."

He called the ladder down and climbed back into the airship.

When he was inside, Robbie put the piece of paper next to his phone. Sitting and looking at it, he felt a stirring in his chest and allowed himself, for once, to feel a little hope about the future.


End file.
